The present invention relates to a device for storing and for reminding and/or recording the intake of drugs with the other features of the preamble of patent claim 1.
The state of the art includes drug packaging in the form of blister packs, in which the individual drug dosages, namely tablets, pills, powder or also liquid dosages, are housed in individual pockets-forming packaging segments, which lie in succession in the longitudinal direction and are separated from each other by means of connecting segments. This type of drug packaging is marketed in drug boxes, which exhibit a removal area on the side. The blister packs are usually removed from the drug container, the tablet or the capsule is pushed out, and then the blister strip is put back again into the drug container.
The state of the art also discloses blister packs, which are provided with electric conducting tracks on the perforated foil side in order to generate an electric removal signal for the attached computer, when the pills are ejected from the blister, thus severing the conducting tracks over the ejecting area. Such a device is known from the DE 198 35 940.3, where, however, entire segments of the packaging can be severed and can be recorded electronically by means of the conducting track sections, running on the packaging segments. In this device the respective blister strip is circular or meandering, whereby the respective packaging segment can be removed from a removal opening by pulling on the blister strip and severed from the same.
The object of the present invention is to provide a device for storing and for reminding and/or recording the intake of drugs. Said device guarantees that the drug dosages disposed therein will be transported reliably to the removal area.
This problem is solved by the teaching of the patent claim 1. Advantageous improvements of the device are disclosed in the dependent claims 2 to 18.
According to the invention, the device exhibits a drive element, designed as a star-shaped wheel, whose teeth, pointing radially in the outward direction, mesh with the packaging segments that form the individual pockets. The circumferential guide track ensures that the drug packaging is held and guided reliably in the device, especially during usage, during transport or similar mechanical influences. The incremental feed of the drug packaging by means of the star-shaped wheel to the removal-ejecting mechanism prevents a tablet or the like from being conveyed any further and from being removed from the removal window. The star-shaped wheel can mesh with the drug packaging or the blister strip multiple times so that a better blister guide is obtained.
Hence, the star-shaped wheel and the drug packaging act together like gearwheels, whereby the rotational motion of the star-shaped wheel results in a forward motion or rotation of the circularly configured drug packaging.
Furthermore, the device of the invention has the special advantage that the already emptied portion of the drug packaging remains in the device, and the user does not have to worry about the disposal. Rather the consumed segment of the drug packaging also serves to guide better the entire drug packaging in the device.
The guide track can be designed circular or oval so that the drug packaging can be inserted in a simple manner into the guide track without bending said packaging. In addition, the circular or oval design of the guide track guarantees a compact assembly of the entire device and an optimal guide of the drug packaging disposed therein.
The drive element or the star-shaped wheel exhibits the special advantage that it can mesh with the opposite sides of the drug packaging. Hence, the star-shaped wheel meshes twice, thus achieving a better blister guide. The twin guide is especially advantageous when owing to its limited length the drug packaging or the blister strip can no longer be grasped by the star-shaped wheel on one side. Then it is guaranteed that said strip is moved forward on the other side.
In so doing, the star-shaped wheel can mesh with the opposite packaging segments, located on the periphery. Since the star-shaped wheel meshes twice, only half the force is required on each side to advance the drug packaging. If the tablets or pills are arranged vertically to the packaging plane in the drug packaging, it is easier for the teeth of the star-shaped wheel to mesh with the individual pockets that protrude more.
As an alternative it is possible for the star-shaped wheel to mesh with a sprocket hole, similar to that of a reel of film, of the drug packaging. The teeth or the tooth is provided with a corresponding tip, which can engage with the respective hole.
The guide track can exhibit a peripheral channel, in which the laterally projecting edge of the drug packaging or the blister is guided. The channel can be formed by the wall of the device and by a guide leg in the interior of the housing.
The ejecting element can be loaded by a spring, which moves the ejecting element into the ejecting position due to its spring force. To actuate the device, the user has to move the ejecting element counter to the ejecting position, whereby the next individual pocket moves in front of the removal window and the tablet therein is ejected by means of the ejecting element, which exerts a force due to the thrust and spring effect. The ejecting element remains in this extended position, thus fixing the ejected blister pocket in position. Thus, with this construction it is also possible to further stabilize the position by means of the ejecting element.
The ejecting element is expediently designed as an ejecting ram and can generate the necessary force to eject the tablet or another drug dosage from the drug pocket.
The ejecting element can interact in an especially advantageous manner with the drive element so that, when the user merely actuates the ejecting element, the drug packaging is advanced incrementally at the same time. Hence, when the ejecting element is actuated the next time, the next tablet can be automatically ejected through the removal window.
The ejecting element can be connected to an actuating ram, which causes the star-shaped wheel to turn. The actuating ram engages with the teeth, which are also provided on the star-shaped wheel and whose number is identical to the number of the teeth enveloping the individual pockets. When the ejecting element is actuated once, the star-shaped wheel rotates by one step, with the result that the drug packaging is advanced at the same time by one packaging segment. Thus, the ejection procedure is coupled in a simple manner with the forward motion of the drug packaging.
Furthermore, the removal-ejecting mechanism or the ejecting element can be connected to the switch ram, which actuates an electric contact. The electric contact can be connected to a counter. When the ejecting element is actuated, an automatic counter can be operated simultaneously in order to record the quantity of the drug that was removed.
Thus, actuation of the ejecting element results in the simultaneous advance of the drug packaging and the actuation of the electric contact.
It is practical to design the ejecting element, the actuating ram and the switch ram as a single-part module, in particular as an injection molded part. Thus, the three elements, which interact functionally, can be produced in one production step and thus relatively economically.
The ejecting element can be held by a guide element, which stabilizes the ejecting element in its two end positions and simultaneously acts against the force acting on the ejecting element.
The guide element can envelop like a clamp the ejecting element and thus prevent the ejecting element from sliding laterally.
It is practical to fix the ejecting element in the ejecting position so that the position of the drug packaging is further stabilized.
The device exhibits advantageously an indicating unit, which is connected to the counter. The indicating unit shows the quantity of tablets that have already been removed or that are still in the drug packaging. The indicating unit can also be connected to a microchip that stores, for example the current time or the current date. Furthermore, there can be a microprocessor, which sends a signal at a specific time to the indicating device and reminds the user to take the medication.
It is especially advantageous to provide a stop ramp at the wall in the vicinity of the removal window. When inserted, the outermost end of the drug packaging or the blister strip rests against the ramp""s wide end, projecting into the guide track. The distance between the last packaging segment and the end of the drug packaging is chosen in such a manner that when the drug packaging is incorrectly inserted, the end section of the drug packaging would lie directly in front of the removal window and hence the ejecting element could not be fixed in its ejecting position. Consequently the stop ramp prevents an incorrect insertion of the drug packaging. Thus, in the case of multiphase preparations (for example, the birth control pill) it is extremely important that the drug packaging be correctly inserted. Owing to the reduced height of the ejected packaging segment it can slide easily over the stop ramp as it is advanced.
The drug dosages, in particular the flat tablets or pills, can be arranged vertically in relation to the packaging plane. This arrangement results, as compared to a conventional drug packaging, where the tablets or pills are arranged horizontally to the packaging plane, in a decrease in the total length of the drug packaging. This feature is especially important in the aforementioned, inventive device, wherein a drug packaging with a correspondingly higher number of drug dosages can be housed.